Apr 6 2025

THE 2025 SEASON IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY!

As always, the annual Kennedy Men’s Club Spring Banquet was a fun and informative event. There were some very important and exciting updates that we're anxious to share with everyone. We were very happy to see so many familiar faces, and of course, we welcomed a few of our 25 new members this season! Here's a full recap of all we discussed, including some important course updates from Kennedy's Head Pro, Bob Nelson.

CHOOSE HOW TO RECEIVE YOUR TOURNAMENT WINNINGS

This is a big change for 2025, and for many of you, very welcome news. We are giving you the option to receive tournament payouts as KMC account credit instead of Denver Golf gift certificate money. 

What does this mean for you? This is important to those of you who play in USGA, CGA, or related amateur events. If you elect to receive your tournament payouts as club credit instead of Denver Golf gift certificates, you risk losing your amateur status with the USGA. This could disqualify you from events such as the Denver City Amateur. Please take a moment to read more about USGA amateur status and specifics about prize money before deciding which option is best for you.

If you do choose to receive your payouts in the form of Denver Golf gift certificates, please remember that this money can be used at all City of Denver golf courses to pay for green fees or pro shop merchandise. You must have an account with Denver Golf (MemberSports) to receive your gift certificates from KMC. Beware that the gift certificates do expire at the end of the calendar year. Club credit is good for all Kennedy Men's Club tournament registration, including side pots. All side pot payouts will continue to be paid as club credit.

What do you need to do? Log in to your account, a screen will appear giving you the option to select Club Credit or Gift Certificates, you will only need to make this selection once for the entire season. Please reach out to the Board if you have any questions.

COURSE UPDATES FROM KENNEDY HEAD PRO, BOB NELSON

The biggest pain point on the course right now probably involves riding cart pickup, which has been limited to as little as 10 minutes prior to your tee time. The Board completely understands your frustration, and while both Bob and his staff acknowledge it's not ideal, there is a valid reason to this rule and Bob took a lot of time explaining the problem. To sum up the issue, Kennedy Golf Course has a limited number of golf carts and chargers for the number of golfers using them on a daily basis. The demand for golf carts by golfers at Kennedy has continuously increased since the acquisition of carts and charging stations several years ago. And given the carts must receive a charge following each 18 hole round, there just aren't enough carts ready for use to have them available when you first arrive. As Bob stated, people on the tee box who rented a cart MUST have one before they tee off, and that is the priority. This applies to all of us, nobody wants to be on the first tee box without their cart, and that is the risk. Bob also said that along with our support on this rule, he is working to increase that amount of time for cart pickup. You can now pickup your cart 20 minutes before your tee time, and he's hoping to get that time increased to 30 minutes, but he's emphatic that it requires the help of everyone to return carts promptly after their round. To help with getting your cart, there will be a bag drop by the pro shop you can utilize. Bob also said they will allow you to borrow pull carts to help retrieve your bag from your car. For cart pickup, there will now be a valet. 20 minutes before your tee time you can present your receipt to the valet and they will assign you a cart. Following your round, Bob asks that you quickly drop off your bags at your car and take the cart to the return area behind the pro shop. Please do not leave them by the restaurant, this is one of the reasons the pickup rule is in place. There is one important issue Bob unfortunately had to address, and that involves the treatment of course staff by a few of our members. Bob has no tolerance for anyone who takes out their anger or frustration on the Kennedy Golf Course staff and says he will kick anyone off the property who is verbally abusive to employees. The Board stands by Bob on this, and will consider disciplinary action against members who do not treat all Kennedy staff with respect. 

On the topic of golf carts, expect GPS to be added to carts sometime this summer, possibly as early as June! Other topics Bob covered included the repair work to the bridge that connects holes #2 and #6 on Babe Lind. If you aren't aware, this construction is underway and is scheduled to be completed by April 27. (Why we will play our first two tournaments on West-Creek) Bob says he's hopeful the crew will hit this mark, but also said he won't be surprised if it takes longer than expected. He was clear that this is not going to be a drawn out project like the bridge on #18. Which, if you'll recall, took several months just for work to begin.

Bob also gave some rough dates for construction of a new restaurant and club house! This is part of the new master plan for Kennedy which will eventually involve work on the entire golf course. The first phase will be rebuilding the restaurant and club house and the city is planning to break ground on this project in 2027 - just two years away! The project is expected to be completed the following year. (We'll see!)

One of the questions Bob addressed involved water jugs on the golf course. He says no water will be added to the course this year, but he did say that if you run out of water to flag down a Marshall and they can assist with refilling your water container.

Lastly, changes will be coming to help with pace-of-play. Bob says his staff will soon receive training to better manage pace-of-play on the course and that they will be managing pace-of-play for ALL golfers, including KMC! As you all are aware (or should be aware), we have our slow play rule to keep groups moving along, but don't be surprised if golf course staff also push you along if your group is playing slow! In addition, we are working with Bob to try something new this year. Our Cash Cow tournament on June 21 will begin at 6:00 a.m! Our goal is to prove to Denver Golf that we in fact set a great pace-of-play at the course, and that we should be given earlier tee times, so please keep that in mind when we tee it up on June 21st! 

DEATH OF LONG-TIME KMC MEMBER, FRIEND, JOHN CROCKETT

Our Spring Banquet, sadly, was not without horrible news. We took a moment to honor and remember our late friend, John Crockett. We were recently informed of his passing, and are saddened by the news. John was a great man and friendly to everyone. Our upcoming Memorial Tournament will be played in honor of John. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

NEW THIS YEAR: CREDIT YOUR KMC ACCOUNT WITH ZELLE

Treasurer Chong Woo has enabled Zelle as a way to add credit to your KMC account. Zelle is similar to Venmo or Paypal, you can transfer money directly from your bank account free of charge and avoid credit card fees, mailing checks, etc. Please note: you must allow a minimum 48 hours for Zelle transfers to be available in your KMC account! Zelle cannot be used when you checkout, if you do not have sufficient funds in your KMC account at time of checkout, you will need to use a credit card to complete the transaction. Information on how to send Zelle payments can be found here.

VOTE APPROVED TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP CAPACITY TO 150 

President Trent Wood proposed a motion to increase Kennedy Men's Club membership to 150 maximum members. The argument he presented included: (A) The decrease in registration revenue from the addition of honorary members in recent years. (B) We are guaranteed 100 spots in each of our tournaments (many that we do not fill to capacity). (C) We are often able to add additional tee times when more than 100 players are willing to play. (D) The benefit of increasing this number from 145 to 150 will allow for increased tournament payouts.

The motion was seconded by Jim Biederman and approved by 2/3rds of membership present at the Spring Banquet. 

HANDICAP REMINDERS FROM CHAIRMAN DAVE COLE 

As a reminder to all golfers, post your casual rounds! For new members, do not post your KMC tournament rounds! We will post those scores for you. For those establishing a handicap, you must have 8 scores posted to play in the 2-man, 2-day event in June.

FIRST 2-MAN, 2-DAY WILL HAVE 3 CALCUTTA FLIGHTS 

We are increasing the first 2-man, 2-day event from 2 Calcutta Flights to 3 and reducing the payouts from top 4 finishers in each flight, to top 3 teams in each flight. This will allow us to better separate handicaps and manage tee box assignments. This does not apply to the second 2-man, 2-day. 

SENIOR MOVE-UP RULE CHANGE 

In an effort to further simplify our senior move-up rule, and align our tournaments with CGA and USGA guidelines, the Board has decided to allow anyone 75 or older the option to pick any tee they wish for net events, with the exception of the Calcuttas and Club Championship. The Board has also decided to allow for certain exemptions to this rule. So, if you are under the age of 75 but feel you should be allowed move-up relief, please reach out to the Board with your reasoning. The Board will consider exemptions for players because of injury, disability, or physical limitations.

With that, we welcomed another great season at Kennedy Men's Club! 

Sep 24 2024

BEWARE OF GOLF MARKERS THAT DON'T COMPLY WITH USGA RULES

Recently, a piece of equipment was discovered in the Kennedy Men's Club that should serve as a reminder to everyone to please watch out for equipment that violates the rules of golf.

Specifically, the LINASHI Golf Green Slope Marker, which claims to be "professional," is in fact a non-compliant ball marker that contains a ball level. This is where the issue lies:

According to USGA Rule 4.3, ball markers must not include any features designed to measure or interpret conditions like slope or green speed. Thus, the above referenced ball marker or anything similar is not permitted in Kennedy Men’s Club tournaments.

Please reach out to a Board member if you have any questions!

Aug 12 2024

GRANT TANABE FINISHES +1 TO RECLAIM KMC'S TOP TITLE

Another great Club Championship weekend is in the books! The competition was tough, but one player managed to play some impressive golf and pull away from the pack. Mr. Tanabe definitely brought his A-game, shooting 69 + 74 last weekend and beating the next best gross score by 5 strokes! Well done, Grant! 

In net score competition, Mr. Greg Davis shot an impressive -6 to take the top spot in the first flight. In the second flight, a familiar leaderboard name edged out his competition by a single stroke! Mr. Ken Doby claimed that flight finishing at -3. In the third flight, it was instead a very new name that took first place. Congratulations, Mr. William McCombie on your final score of -4 in your first KMC Club Championship! And finally, in the fourth flight with final score of -4, Mr. Rus Peterson managed to finish 7 strokes ahead of the competition! Well done, guys! 

We look forward to celebrating these historic Kennedy Men's Club victories in a couple months at the Fall Banquet. Until then, there's a lot more KMC golf ahead, and hopefully more fairways and greens for everyone! 

Congratulations to our 2024 Kennedy Men's Club Champions! 

May 26 2024

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ATTESTATIONS

The Board has decided that beginning with the Two Man Two Day tournament, all players are required to attest their score online after the round. If you do not attest your score, you will be disqualified from that round! If you need help attesting your score, please see a committee member following your round, we are happy to help you with the process. 

Apr 12 2024

LOCAL RULES UPDATES

FREE RELIEF FROM CERTAIN TREES

You may take relief from any tree with wire fencing around the trunk ONLY IF the tree or fencing interferes with your stance or swing. There is NO relief if your shot (line of sight to the hole) is impacted by the tree.

UPDATED DROP AREAS

Look for new white painted drop areas on #6, #13, #15, and #18. Beware that the drop areas for #6 and #18 have moved and are no longer the white tee boxes. As a reminder, on #6 and #18 you may use the drop zones after your SECOND SHOT enters the penalty area. On #13 and #15, you may use the drop areas after your TEE SHOT enters the penalty area. 

May 22 2023

PLEASE RESPECT OUR HOME COURSE

For those who were able to play this past weekend in our two events honoring our late friends James and George, we hope you had a great time! We were treated with some great weather, and a golf course that's in the best shape we've seen in years. While the recent rain has helped with course conditions, what you may not know is that there's renewed effort by golf course staff to improve conditions. This is great news, and we're hopeful this passion continues! However, not all maintenance is the responsibility of golf course staff, it's YOUR responsibility to be a steward of our home course as well. So we kindly ask you to respect the golf course in the following ways:

Golf carts SHOULD NEVER be taken off cart paths where cart paths exist. This means:

• NO driving on grass near TEE BOXES.
• NO driving on grass near GREENS. 
• Remember, these areas get the most traffic on the golf course, and riding carts DAMAGE GRASS!
• The only exception are for those with handicap placards issued by the pro shop.

Players must pair up in golf carts. 

• NO MORE than 2 riding carts per foursome. (The only exception are first and last groups that carry tournament signage.) 

We all must repair course damage created by playing the game. This means:

• FILL OR REPLACE your divots.
• FIX your ball marks.
• RAKE sand traps after hitting your shot.
• Be a GREAT steward of the course by fixing one additional divot, or ball mark, or un-raked area of a sand trap after fixing your own damage. 

Gentlemen, do not treat the above as optional. Respecting the course is mandatory! For those who don't comply with the above, remember that Kennedy Golf Course staff reserves the right to remove a cart, or player during any event! The KMC Board can also take disciplinary action (including removal from the club) against a player who woefully ignores the above. By following these guidelines you not only show respect to the course, you show it to your playing partners, the golf course staff, and everyone else who plays the course. 

Along those lines, pace of play is also an important part of respecting your fellow golfers. We are very proud to say that NO groups were penalized for slow play this past weekend! That's great, and we need to continue that effort. Please keep it up!

It's important to remember, we do not have the right to play Kennedy, or any of the other courses we play throughout the year, and no member should ever expect "special privileges" because he is a member of the Kennedy Men's Club. It's up to ALL OF US to set an example of how to respect and maintain the golf course we play. Kennedy is our home, let's show the course respect. 

To those of you who already adhere to the above, THANK YOU! 

Mar 30 2023

New local rule: Line-of-play relief around putting greens

The Men's Club Board has voted to implement a new rule intended to allow relief to players who wish to putt from just off the green, but have a sprinkler head interfering with their line-of-play. It may be used for other immovable obstructions following these guidelines:

Relief from interference by an immovable obstruction may be taken under Rule 16.1

• The player also has these extra options to take relief when such immovable obstructions are close to the putting green and on the line of play:
• On the line of play, and is:
• Within two club-lengths of the putting green, and
• Within two club-lengths of the ball.

Exception – No Relief If Line of Play Clearly Unreasonable. There is no relief under this Local Rule if the player chooses a line of play that is clearly unreasonable.

(This rule is also detailed on the Local Rules page.)